Are Temple Donations Charity?

While visiting temples, I think most of us would be dropping some money or some coins in the hundi or cash collection boxes. We would also offer some coins (dravya) as part of our offering during worshipping the deity. Bigger temples display written notices directing the devotees to drop money only at the designated places. I guess at some point of time all of us would have wondered if such donations to temples are worthwhile. Some of us might be thinking that it is a waste of money and it goes to the overfed priests. I think there can be a serious misconception and lack of awareness if our views are on these lines.

Bigger Hindu temples carry out a lot of social welfare activities. For example, the list of social welfare work being done by the famous Tirupati Mandir consists of:

·         Giving free medical treatment to the poor

·         Maintaining shelters for poor

·         Home for treatment of leprosy patients

·         Free boarding, lodging and education to orphans and destitute

·         Training center for handicapped people

·         Schemes to conserve underground water and rain water

·         Planting saplings and developing forests

·         Protection of cows

·         Preservation of temples and religious symbols

References: [Link1] [Link2] [Link3] [Link4]

Similarly, Mata Amritanandamayi Math carries out a host of social welfare activities including:

·        Homes for the Homeless (Amrita Kuteeram project to build 100,000 homes for the poor)

·         Free monthly pension for the poor

·         Prisoner Welfare

·         Tribal Welfare programs

·         providing free legal services to the poor

·         Mass Marriages of impoverished couples

·         Free food and clothes to the poor

·         Care Homes for the Elderly

·         Running Orphanage

·         Vocational Training & Self Help Groups

Reference: [Link1]

While bigger temples carry out a lot of social work using the money received through donations, a lot of bigger Hindu temples are actually managed by the state governments. In such cases, the money collected in the temples is also spent on developing infrastructure of the cities and areas around it. For example, you can read about how Shirdi Sai Baba Temple funds are being used by the state government for infrastructure development projects like building roads, footpaths, and parking places. [Ref1] Although this is a controversial topic whether state governments should take temple donations to carry out work which they are supposed to do anyway. [Ref2] In my opinion, government’s control over Hindu temples is undesirable and it should be decontrolled over time. (Though the current trend is just the opposite.) Until the decontrol happens, even if the governments take a big portion of temple donations for other work, if there are lesser donations the actual money left with the temples to do social work would be lesser and hence our donations are needed to maintain the current running set of social welfare activities.

Smaller temples depend hugely on donations to maintain themselves and to cover expenses like regular puja, cleanliness, security and infrastructure maintenance. In my opinion, we should donate more at smaller temples than at the bigger temples because of this reason.

If we look at the historical account too, the need for funding our temples is very genuine. For centuries during the Islamic invasion of India, temples of all sizes were destroyed and desecrated by the barbaric forces. Somnath Temple is a classic case, but such cases are scattered all over India, especially the Northern part. Almost all major temples were attacked. The Ram Temple at Ayodhya is a recent example where the court had to rule out the inconvenient fact that there was indeed a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri Masjid. Over a thousand years of foreign rule left our temples in pitiful state. Therefore there was a severe need to start rebuilding our temples post our independence. There have been some extraordinary efforts in this area by the Birlas who built Birla Mandirs in all major cities and institutions like ISKCON who have built world class temple complexes. I think we need more number of grand temples of the scale of Akshardham or Somnath Temples. I think we should therefore definitely fund construction of any new big size temple.

Apart from making new temples, there is a serious need to develop the infrastructure of existing temples. Every year we hear some stampede or calamity at the crowded ancient Temples which were not designed for so much rush. How else will they be able to make better arrangements, than by using our donations?

Now coming to the question if such donations are charity? Why not? Charity is defined as “The voluntary giving of help, typically money, to those in need”, or “benevolence or generosity toward others”. I think without doubt our donations at Hindu temples can be counted as charity. It is a charity towards causes which are both noble and in dire need.

Looking from all positions I think we should continue donating some money at the collection boxes of our temples.

- Rahul